Push for national institute of technology in sikkim site

Gangtok: The Sikkim government has claimed that Union human
resources minister Prakash Javadekar promised that an empowered
committee would be sent to finalise the site for the permanent campus of
the National Institute of Technology in the Himalayan state.

The
Sikkim NIT has been functioning from a temporary site at Rabongla in
South district. The Sikkim delegation was led by state human resources
development minister R. B. Subba and included minister for power and
energy D. D. Bhutia.

Students of the NIT have been on a peaceful
protest for over a month, demanding a permanent campus and facilities
befitting a premier engineering institution.

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A state government release issued here said the meeting was held to find a permanent solution to the NIT land issue.

"Sri Javadekar assured the delegation from Sikkim that he himself
will visit Sikkim very shortly since it is long overdue and will also
send MHRD (ministry of human resources development) empowered committee
to finalise the site of NIT before he visits Sikkim," said the release,
adding that the union minister also promised to release funds for the
construction of the institute expeditiously.

NIT Sikkim was among
the 10 engineering institutes established by the Centre under the Act
of Parliament in 2007. NIT Sikkim started functioning from the temporary
campus near Rabongla in 2010. Since its inception, the campus has
witnessed numerous protests and demonstrations with students demanding a
permanent campus, preferably elsewhere because of the remoteness of
Rabongla, which is about 120km from Gangtok, and also the adverse
weather condition prevalent there.

"In the eight years of the
existence of NIT Sikkim, the student strength has grown from the initial
50 to 800 now, but it is still operating from the same temporary campus
with inadequate facilities," bemoaned a student.

Added another
student: "The campus is ill-equipped to accommodate such a large number
of students. The students cannot even find private places to stay in a
small place like Rabongla."

Students also alleged that Rabongla
does not have a single good medical facility, school, playground or any
other institutions nearby.

"The place doesn't even have a good
market to meet the basic requirements of the students. Moreover, due to
its remote location, it is inconvenient for guest speakers, professors,
resource persons and workshop trainers to reach the college campus which
adversely affects the training and placement activities," the students
complained.

Students said that a report prepared by the union
human resources ministry in 2012 had found Rabongla unsuitable for
setting up of the institute, and suggested scouting for land at Khamdong
in East Sikkim. "The state government, however, did not heed the report
and refused to shift the NIT campus from Rabongla," a student alleged. The Telegraph, however, could not independently peruse the report.

The Telegraph

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The Sikkim government has claimed that Union human resources minister Prakash Javadekar promised that an empowered committee would be sent to finalise the site for the permanent campus of the National Institute of Technology in the Himalayan state.